


A Reassuring Touch

by Baroness_Blixen



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Episode: s08e16 Three Words, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares suck, on the fluffy side
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 13:03:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15413517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baroness_Blixen/pseuds/Baroness_Blixen
Summary: Set around "Three Words": Scully calls Mulder in the middle of the night.





	A Reassuring Touch

The ring of the phone cuts through the silence and tears Mulder from his doze. He shoots into a sitting position on his couch, his breath and heartbeat too fast, and instinctively reaches for where he presumes his gun. It’s not there. The TV screen explodes in blue and black images of obscenity and he squints. How he’s fallen asleep at all is a mystery to him. No nightmares, he realizes with a foggy mind. That’s progress, at least. He rubs his eyes as the phone rings again, reminding him why he is awake.

“Mulder,” he croaks into the phone. He adjusts his watch around his wrist and checks the time: 3.03 am. If he were more alert, he would know that there is only person who could possibly call him so late. Even if usually she never does. There is no answer on the other side. “Hello?” He doesn’t mean to sound edgy, but these days the edge just slips in.

“Mulder, it’s me.” He is fully awake in an instant.

“Scully, it’s 3 am. Are you all right? Is it the baby?” Her due date, he has learned, is not for another two months. Two months until… he is a father? It’s a line of thought he can’t quiet grasp, not yet. But he needs to catch up. His eyes find the books he bought when Scully let him out of her sight earlier. Lucky for him he’s always been a quick study. Two months will have to be enough to be prepared.

“I’m fine,” she says and he is not convinced; her voice is too shaky, “The baby is fine.” There is a pause, a long one.

“Scully?” Mulder asks when he can’t take it anymore. In his mind he is already halfway to her apartment.

“I’m sorry, Mulder,” her sigh breaks into a sob, stabs him right in the heart, “I woke up and…”

“Please don’t make me guess, Scully,” he breathes into the phone with his eyes closed. Her pain, even with all these miles between them, is his pain, too.

“I woke up and I thought… I was afraid, Mulder. Afraid it was all just a dream. I thought… what if none of this is real? What if you’re not really alive? What if I only dreamed it? Dreamed you? I had to call you. I had to make sure, Mulder.” Her last words almost drown in her tears; he hears them drip drop onto the receiver, feels wetness on his own cheeks.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Scully.”

“Mulder, you don’t have to-”

“I want to, Scully. I want to be there.” He listens to her breathe once more, as if to reassure himself that she, too, is real, and then he hangs up. He dresses quickly, doesn’t think twice and then he is out of the door.

The first thought he has, the same one he had right after waking up for real in the hospital, is how tiny she looks. Her stomach sticks out, round and perfect, and yet she herself is so tiny. She is dressed in satin pajamas and barefoot when she opens the door to him. Her hair is disheveled from having tossed and turned in bed. Her smile is shy, yet radiant. He smiles back, just as tentative, and she lets him inside. They stand in front of each other, not touching, just looking into each other’s eyes. Making sure the other one is real. Scully doesn’t ask; she never did and she never has to. Her hand lands on his chest right over his heart. It beats strongly, just for her; he feels it thump against the confines of his skin, of the scar that holds the turmoil of his past.

“Real enough for you?” He asks hoping that she still appreciates his humor, can still detect it in his voice. Her small smile reassures him, tells him that this at least has not changed.

“I didn’t mean to go all hormonal on you, Mulder. I know you need time to process all of this.” Her hand remains on his chest and he is convinced her warm touch is all he needs to heal.

“You can go hormonal on me every day, Scully. That came out wrong.” She chuckles and starts stroking his chest. Mulder forgets to breathe for a moment, takes in too much air with the next breath, and feels lightheaded. “I’m here now, Scully. If you need me, any part of me, just say the word.” She tilts her head and gives him a tiny grin.

“Any part of you?”

“That came out wrong again, didn’t it?” He tries to cover it up with what he hopes is a charming smile. “Are you feeling better now?” Scully nods. “Think you can go back to bed?” She doesn’t answer immediately, glances at him. All she has to do is ask. Mulder knows it’s not fair; none of this is fair on either of them. He doesn’t have the words yet. He doesn’t yet know where he fits in, where he belongs. He needs her to ask.

“Stay… stay, please” It’s not a question after all. Neither is it a demand. It’s as easy as anything. As easy as saying each other’s names. Just as right, too. Mulder nods, unable to speak, and she takes his hand into hers.


End file.
